20/150: God Save the Queen!

Termites are insects that have survived for over 120 million years! Featured today is the Pacific Coast Dampwood Termite (Zootermopsis angusticollis). They are unlike most organisms by having complex social systems compromised of different castes of workers, soldiers and reproductives. Each caste serves a different function with workers having no sexual organs and being solely responsible for building, grooming and performing other duties for the colony. The soldiers resemble workers but have large mandibles that are used for protecting the colony against predators and competitors such as ants or other termites. The reproductives are future kings and queens tasked with starting new colonies, and are known for biparental care which increases their chance of survival as a colony by double! In an experiment comparing single parent vs. two parent colonies, 3 out of 4 single parent colonies became biparental which goes to show even termites get lonely! #Canada150 #Biodiversity150

19/150: Invasive Species Awareness on Crab Appreciation Day

The European green crab is an invasive species from the North Atlantic coast of Europe and North Africa, first found in Canadian waters in 1951 in New Brunswick and has since spread all over Atlantic Canada. It is a part of the order Decapoda which include more than 8,000 species of crustaceans including shrimp, lobsters, crayfish, hermit crabs and crabs. The European green crab is an aggressive, dominant predator that lives in shallow ocean waters such as salt marshes, rocky coasts and sandy beaches, and feeds on a variety of shellfish. As cool as these crabs are, they do compete with native crabs and lobsters for food and shelter, reduce invertebrate and fish diversity, threaten shellfish aquaculture and impact eel fisheries by damaging the eels when they enter the traps. #Canada150 #Biodiversity150

A European Green Crab. Photo Credit: CSIRO Marine Research goo.gl/5Dc261A European Green Crab in its habitat. Photo Credit: CSIRO goo.gl/7VGY3c